Taipei Times
Date: Jun 27, 2016
Liberty Times (LT): Taiwan’s economic performance has been weak in recent years and even if
Academia Sinica Institute of Economics corresponding research fellow Hu Sheng-cheng speaks during an interview in Taipei on June 17. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
annual economic growth can be kept at 1 percent this year, it would still be lower than the global average by a considerable margin. What accounts for the nation’s tepid economic growth?
Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正): Part of the problem is the global economy, which is unlikely to improve in the near future. Many research institutes have made downward adjustments to their global economic growth estimates for this year and next year.
As a result, Taiwan’s economy is unlikely to grow next year. While a decline in export volumes is contracting, it might not contract fast enough.
Unfortunately, domestic demand is also weak… Investment has fallen from between 18 percent and 19 percent 10 years ago to between 16 percent and 17 percent, with negative investment growth across the board, including the private and public sectors and state-owned enterprises.
Unless President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration takes action to boost domestic demand, GDP growth next year is unlikely to improve. [FULL STORY]
